The Kathá Sarit Ságara; or, Ocean of the Streams of Story
Just at that moment the king found on the road an asvattha-tree,
on the bank of a lake, the water of which was as transparent as a
good man's heart. And seeing that that spot was overshadowed with
dense boughs and leaves, and was shady and grassy, he made up his
mind that he would pass the night there. Then he dismounted from his
horse, and gave it grass and water, and rested on the sandy bank
of the lake, and drank water, and cooled himself in the breeze;
and then he lay down with that hermit's daughter, under that tree,
on a bed of flowers. And at that time the moon arose, and removing
the mantle of darkness, seized and kissed the glowing face of the
East. And all the quarters of the heaven were free from darkness,
and gleamed, embraced and illuminated by the rays of the moon,
so that there was no room for pride. [387] And so the beams of the
moon entered the interstices in the bower of creepers, and lit up
the space round the foot of the tree like jewel-lamps.
And the next morning the king left his bed, and after the morning
prayer, he made ready to set out with his wife to rejoin his army. And
then the moon, that had in the night robbed the cheeks of the lotuses
of their beauty, lost its brightness, and slunk, as if in fear, to the
hollows of the western mountain; for the sun, fiery-red with anger,
as if desirous to slay it, lifted his curved sword in his outstretched
fingers. [388] At that moment there suddenly came there a Bráhman
demon, black as soot, with hair yellow as the lightning, looking
like a thunder-cloud. He had made himself a wreath of entrails; he
wore a sacrificial cord of hair; he was gnawing the flesh of a man's
head, and drinking blood out of a skull. The monster, terrible with
projecting tusks, uttered a horrible loud laugh, and vomiting fire with
rage, menaced the king in the following words, "Villain! know that
I am a Bráhman demon, Jválámukha by name, and this asvattha-tree my
dwelling is not trespassed upon even by gods, but thou hast presumed
to occupy and enjoy it with thy wife. So receive from me, returned
from my nightly wanderings, the fruit of thy presumption. I, even I,
O wicked one, will tear out and devour the heart of thee, whose mind
love has overpowered, aye, and I will drink thy blood."
When the king heard this dreadful threat, and saw that his wife was
terrified, knowing that the monster was invulnerable, he humbly said to
him in his terror, "Pardon the sin which I have ignorantly committed
against you, for I am a guest come to this your hermitage, imploring
your protection. And I will give you what you desire, by bringing a
human victim, whose flesh will glut your appetite; so be appeased,
and dismiss your anger." When the Bráhman demon heard this speech of
the king's, he was pacified, and said to himself, "So be it! That will
do." Then he said to the king, "I will overlook the insult you have
offered me on the following conditions. You must find a Bráhman boy,
who, though seven years old and intelligent, is of so noble a character
that he is ready to offer himself for your sake. And his mother and
father must place him on the earth, and hold him firmly by the hands
and feet, while he is being sacrificed. And when you have found such
a human victim, you must yourself slay him with a sword-stroke, and
so offer him up to me on the seventh day from this. If you comply
with these conditions, well and good; but, if not, king, I will in
a moment destroy you and all your court." When the king heard this,
in his terror he agreed at once to the conditions proposed, and the
Bráhman demon immediately disappeared.
Then king Chandrávaloka mounted his horse, and set out with
Indívaraprabhá in quest of his army, in a state of the utmost
despondency. He said to himself, "Alas! I, bewildered by hunting and
love, have suddenly incurred destruction like Pándu; [389] fool that
I am! For whence can I obtain for this Rákshasa a victim, such as he
has described? So I will go in the meantime to my own town, and see
what will happen." While thus reflecting, he met his own army, that
had come in search of him, and with that and his wife he entered his
city of Chitrakúta. Then the whole kingdom rejoiced, when they saw
that he had obtained a suitable wife, but the king passed the rest
of the day in suppressed sorrow.
The next day he communicated to his ministers in secret all that
had taken place, and a discreet minister among them said to him,
"Do not be downcast, king, for I will search for and bring you such
a victim, for the earth contains many marvels."
When the minister had consoled the king in these words, he had made
with the utmost rapidity a golden image of a seven-years-old child,
and he adorned its ears with jewels, and placed it on a chariot,
and had it carried about in the towns, villages, and stations of
herdsmen. And while that image of a child was being carried about,
the minister had the following proclamation continually made in
front of it, with beat of drum; "If a Bráhman boy of seven years old
will willingly offer himself to a Bráhman demon for the good of the
community, and if his mother and father will permit the brave boy to
offer himself, and will hold his hands and feet while he is being
slain, the king will give to that boy, who is so eager to benefit
his parents as to comply with these conditions, this image of gold
and gems, together with a hundred villages."
Now it happened that a certain seven-years-old Bráhman boy, living
on a royal grant to Bráhmans, who was of great courage and admirable
character, heard this proclamation. Even in his childhood this boy
had always taken pleasure in benefiting his fellow-men, as he had
practised that virtue in a former life; in fact he seemed like the
ripe result of the merits of the king's subjects incarnate in bodily
form. So he came and said to the men who were making this proclamation,
"I will offer myself up for your good; but first, I will go and inform
my parents; then I will return to you." When he said this to them,
they were delighted, and they let him go. So he went home, and folding
his hands in an attitude of supplication, he said to his parents;
"I wish to offer for the good of the community this perishable body
of mine; so permit me to do so, and put an end to your poverty. For
if I do so, the king will give me this image of myself, made of gold
and gems, together with a hundred villages, and on receiving them,
I will make them over to you. In this way I shall pay my debt to you,
and at the same time benefit my fellow-men; and your poverty will be
at an end, and you will have many sons to replace me."
As soon as he had said this, his parents answered him; "What is
this that you say, son? Are you distracted with wind? Or are you
planet-struck? Unless you are one of these, how could you talk in this
wild way? Who would cause his son's death for the sake of wealth? What
child would sacrifice its body?" When the boy heard this speech of his
parents, he rejoined; "I do not speak from a disordered intellect;
hear my speech, which is full of sense. This body, which is full
of indescribable impurities, which is loathsome by its very birth,
and the abode of pain, will soon perish [390] anyhow. So wise men say
that the only solid and permanent thing in a fleeting universe is that
merit which is acquired by means of this very frail and perishable
body. [391] And what greater merit can there be than the benefiting
of all creatures? So, if I do not show devotion to my parents, what
fruit shall I reap from my body?" By this speech and others of the
same kind the resolute boy induced his weeping parents to consent to
his wish. And he went to the king's servants, and obtained from them
that golden image, together with a grant of a hundred villages, and
gave them to his parents. Then he made the king's servants precede
him, and went quickly, accompanied by his parents, to the king in
Chitrakúta. Then king Chandrávaloka, beholding arrived the boy,
whose courage [392] was so perfect, and who thus resembled a bright
protecting talisman, was exceedingly delighted. So he had him adorned
with garlands, and anointed with unguents, and putting him on the
back of an elephant, he took him with his parents to the abode of
the Bráhman demon.
Then the chaplain drew a circle near the asvattha-tree, and performed
the requisite rites, and made an oblation to the fire. And then
the Bráhman demon Jválámukha appeared, uttering a loud laugh, and
reciting the Vedas. His appearance was very terrible; he was drunk
with a full draught of blood, yawning, and panting frequently; his
eyes blazed, and he darkened the whole horizon with the shadow of
his body. Then king Chandrávaloka, beholding him, bent before him,
and said; "Adorable one, I have brought you this human sacrifice,
and it is now the seventh day, gentle Sir, since I promised it you;
so be propitious, receive this sacrifice, as is due." When the king
made this request, the Bráhman demon looked at the Bráhman boy,
licking the corners of his mouth with his tongue. [393]
At that moment the noble boy, in his joy, said to himself, "Let not
the merit, which I acquire by this sacrifice of my body, gain for
me heaven, or even a salvation which involves no benefits to others,
but may I be privileged to offer up my body for the benefit of others
in birth after birth!" While he was forming this aspiration, the
heaven was suddenly filled with the chariots of the heavenly host,
who rained flowers.
Then the boy was placed in front of the Bráhman demon, and his mother
took hold of his hands and his father of his feet. Then the king
drew his sword, and prepared to slay him; but at that moment the
child laughed so loudly, that all there, the Bráhman demon included,
abandoned the occupation in which they were engaged, and in their
astonishment put their palms together, and bowing, looked at his face.
When the Vetála had told this entertaining and romantic tale, he once
more put a question to king Trivikramasena; "So tell me, king, what
was the reason that the boy laughed in such an awful moment as that
of his own death? I feel great curiosity to know it, so, if you know,
and do not tell me, your head shall split into a hundred pieces."
When the king heard this from the Vetála, he answered him, "Hear
what was the meaning of that child's laugh. It is well known that
a weak creature, when danger comes upon it, calls upon its father
or mother to save its life. And if its father and mother be gone,
it invokes the protection of the king who is appointed to succour the
afflicted, and if it cannot obtain the aid of the king, it calls upon
the deity under whose special protection it is. Now, in the case of
that child, all those were present, and all behaved in exactly the
opposite manner to what might have been expected of them. The child's
parents held its hands and feet out of greed of gain, and the king
was eager to slay it, to save his own life, and the Bráhman demon,
its protecting deity, was ready to devour it. The child said to itself;
'To think that these should be thus deluded, being led so much astray
for the sake of the body, which is perishable, loathsome within, and
full of pain and disease. Why should they have such a strange longing
for the continuance of the body, in a world in which Brahmá, Indra,
Vishnu, Siva, and the other gods must certainly perish.' Accordingly
the Bráhman boy laughed out of joy and wonder, joy at feeling that he
had accomplished his object, and wonder at beholding the marvellous
strangeness of their delusion."
When the king had said this, he ceased, and the Vetála immediately left
his shoulder, and went back to his own place, disappearing by his magic
power. But the king, without hesitating for a moment, rapidly pursued